Shields

Shields have a reputation problem in Elden Ring. Veterans roll through everything and treat the left hand as a slot for a second weapon or a catalyst, and new players who raise a shield find themselves out of stamina and staggered anyway. Both camps are missing what a shield is actually for. The right shield turns a boss's opening combo into a guard counter that breaks its stance, lets a Strength character walk through arrow fire and fire breath, and gives a parry player a wall to hide behind while they wait for the swing they want.

Rather than list shields by class and leave the choice to you, this guide is organised around jobs. Each section names the shield our wiki pages rate best for one purpose and explains why, from parrying and the early game through magic defence and full greatshield tanking. After that comes an explanation of guard values and Guard Boost, a table of the numbers for every shield we cover, and a class-by-class list of every shield page on the wiki.

How shields work

Every shield lists five guard values, one for physical damage and one each for magic, fire, lightning and holy. The number is the percentage of that damage type the shield stops while you block. Most medium and great shields sit at 100 physical, which means a blocked sword swing does nothing to your health bar, but their elemental values are far lower, so a dragon's breath still burns through a Heater Shield's 43 fire guard. A sixth number, Guard Boost, decides how much stamina a block costs; higher is better, and it is the real difference between a medium shield and a greatshield. When your stamina empties mid-block the guard breaks and you eat the hit.

Size sets the trade-off. Small shields have poor guard values but the fastest parry windows and almost no weight, which is why they belong to parry specialists rather than blockers. Medium shields balance a full physical block against reasonable weight and can still parry if they carry the Parry skill. Greatshields have the highest Guard Boost and the best elemental numbers, ask for 30 to 44 Strength, and often carry Shield Bash or a unique skill instead of a parry. Requirements matter as much as they do on weapons: the Visage Shield wants 44 Strength, the Kite Shield only 12.

Blocking is only the start. A heavy attack pressed right after a successful block is a guard counter, which deals bonus stance damage and is the fastest way for a shield user to knock a boss down for a critical hit; How To Guard Counter covers the timing and the Curved Sword Talisman raises the damage by 20 percent. A parry, timed to the enemy's swing, opens them for a riposte instead, and How To Parry explains which shields carry the skill and how to add it. Because most shields accept Ashes of War, you can also replace a shield's default skill with Barricade Shield, which briefly hardens the guard so that even a greatsword bounces off a medium shield without costing much stamina.

The best shield for each job

Best shield for parrying

Parry players want a small shield, and among the ones we cover the Spiralhorn Shield is the standout. It is light, it carries a fast parry, and its antler spiral inflicts blood loss on shield bashes, so it contributes damage between parries. The Coil Shield from the Volcano Cave is the alternative with a twist: it raises poison immunity while equipped, which makes it a useful swap in the Swamp of Aeonia and the Lake of Rot even for players who never parry. Neither blocks well, so treat them as tools rather than walls.

Best early-game shield

The Heater Shield the Vagabond starts with already blocks 100 percent of physical damage, and anyone else can buy one from the Twin Maiden Husks. If you want an upgrade before Stormveil, the Beast Crest Heater Shield near Saintsbridge in eastern Limgrave keeps the full physical block, weighs 3.5 and has a 50 magic guard that the Heater lacks. The Kite Shield, 1,000 Runes from the Nomadic Merchant in southern Liurnia, is the cheapest way to a full block with a better Guard Boost of 56 and moderate elemental numbers. On the Weeping Peninsula, the Great Turtle Shell on the rampart road to Castle Morne speeds up stamina recovery and comes with Barricade Shield built in, a rare combination for a 14 Strength shield.

Best medium shield

For most of the game the Brass Shield is the medium shield to beat. It blocks all physical damage, its Guard Boost of 61 is the highest of any medium shield on our wiki, its elemental guards are balanced in the fifties, and it can be farmed from Godrick's knights in Limgrave, Radahn's soldiers in Caelid or the Cuckoo Knights of Liurnia. Sixteen Strength is the only cost. Put Parry on it and it covers every medium-shield job at once. Our Best Shields roundup compares it against the rest of the field.

Best greatshield

Two greatshields sit at the top and they answer different questions. The Fingerprint Stone Shield is the heaviest shield in the game and has the best all-round guard values we have recorded, 100 physical with every element between 75 and 81 and a Guard Boost of 77, at the cost of a long trip beneath the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds after Mohg the Omen falls. The Dragon Towershield from a chest in Crumbling Farum Azula is the practical alternative: 30 Strength, a Guard Boost of 69 and elemental guards in the sixties, with Shield Bash ready to be swapped for anything you like. Both are covered in more depth in Best Greatshields.

Best shield against magic

Sorcerers and the Academy are where a medium shield earns its keep. The Silver Mirrorshield, looted from the Apostate Derelict church in the far north of the Consecrated Snowfield, has an 89 magic guard, the best of any shield we cover, alongside a full physical block. Until you can reach it, the Carian Knight's Shield dropped by Moongrum outside Rennala's library offers a 71 magic guard and a 54 holy guard for 10 Strength, 10 Dexterity and 15 Intelligence; the step-by-step route is in How to Get Carian Knight's Shield.

Best shield against fire and holy

The Visage Shield from the Caelem Ruins cellar carries an 81 fire guard and a Guard Boost of 75, and its Tongues of Fire skill spews flame that shreds enemy poise, though the 44 Strength requirement makes it a late pick. For the holy damage that Radagon, Morgott and the Haligtree deal out, the Haligtree Crest Greatshield farmed from a knight at the base of Elphael has a 79 holy guard and a Guard Boost of 71.

Best shield for Faith and support builds

The Icon Shield from the Woodfolk Ruins on the Altus Plateau regenerates 3 HP a second just for being equipped, which stacks with the Blessed Dew Talisman for a character that heals while walking. Faith casters who want holy protection on top pair it with the Haligtree Crest Greatshield, and Golden Order casters can layer the Immutable Shield incantation over any shield to raise its non-physical guards further.

Best offensive and utility shields

A few shields attack back. The One-Eyed Shield from Chief Guardian Arghanthy hurls fireballs with Flame Spit while blocking everything physical. The Shield of the Guilty in the Demi-Human Forest Ruins cellar bleeds enemies on its bashes and needs only 8 Strength. The Jellyfish Shield near the Four Belfries is the lightest greatshield in the game and its Contagious Fury skill buffs your damage, which is why it turns up in so many caster and dragon builds. And the Black Leather Shield sold by Pidia in Caria Manor protects against frostbite build-up, a small effect that matters in the northern half of the map.

Guard values and Guard Boost for every shield

These are the base values recorded on our individual pages. Physical is the share of physical damage blocked; the elemental columns work the same way; Guard Boost governs stamina lost per block.

Read the table from the right. A Guard Boost in the seventies means a greatshield can hold a block through a boss combo; the low forties on the Shield of the Guilty and Coil Shield mean two blocked hits and an empty stamina bar, which is the price of their lighter weight and side effects. The gap in elemental values is also why so many shield users carry two: a Brass Shield for the road and a specialist for the boss.

Every shield on the wiki by class

Small shields

• Coil Shield: corpse inside the Volcano Cave in the northern corner of Mt. Gelmir. Raises poison immunity, 10 Strength and 10 Dexterity.
• Spiralhorn Shield: east of the Eastern Tableland in Liurnia, from the Ruined Labyrinth grace. A parry shield whose antlers cause blood loss.

Medium shields

• Beast Crest Heater Shield: near Saintsbridge, eastern Limgrave. Full physical block at 3.5 weight.
• Black Leather Shield: 2,500 Runes from Pidia in Caria Manor. Frostbite protection, 10 Strength.
• Brass Shield: farmed from Godrick Knights, Radahn Soldiers and Cuckoo Knights. The best medium shield on the wiki, 16 Strength.
• Carian Knight's Shield: drop from Moongrum before Rennala's lift. High magic guard, needs 15 Intelligence. See also How to Get Carian Knight's Shield.
• Great Turtle Shell: rampart on the road to Castle Morne. Stamina recovery and Barricade Shield, 14 Strength.
• Heater Shield: Vagabond starting shield, otherwise sold by the Twin Maiden Husks. Parry built in, 10 Strength.
• Kite Shield: 1,000 Runes from the Nomadic Merchant in southern Liurnia. Full block, 12 Strength.
• Shield of the Guilty: chest in the Demi-Human Forest Ruins cellar, Weeping Peninsula. Bleed on bash, 8 Strength.
• Silver Mirrorshield: Apostate Derelict, northern Consecrated Snowfield. The best magic guard in the game, 12 Strength, 10 Dexterity, 10 Intelligence.

Greatshields

• Dragon Towershield: chest in Crumbling Farum Azula. 30 Strength, Shield Bash.
• Fingerprint Stone Shield: deep below the Subterranean Shunning-Grounds after Mohg the Omen. The heaviest and best-guarding shield in the game; it also builds madness.
• Golden Beast Crest Shield: a Strength-scaling greatshield with a full physical block.
• Haligtree Crest Greatshield: farmed from a Haligtree Knight at the base of Elphael. 36 Strength, 79 holy guard.
• Icon Shield: Woodfolk Ruins, Altus Plateau. Regenerates 3 HP a second.
• Jellyfish Shield: west of the Four Belfries, Liurnia. The lightest greatshield, with Contagious Fury; cannot take Ashes of War.
• Manor Towershield: near the Secluded Cell grace in Stormveil Castle, after Margit. An early greatshield with Shield Bash.
• One-Eyed Shield: drop from Chief Guardian Arghanthy at the Guardians' Garrison. 36 Strength, Flame Spit.
• Visage Shield: chest in the Caelem Ruins cellar, Caelid. 44 Strength, Tongues of Fire.

Two spells reinforce whatever shield you carry and are covered with the spells: the Scholar's Shield sorcery for magic users and the Immutable Shield incantation for Golden Order casters. For roundups of the class as a whole, see Best Shields and Best Greatshields, and for the builds that put a shield in the left hand, Sword and Shield Builds, Tank Builds and Paladin Builds.

Elden Ring shields FAQ

Are shields worth using in Elden Ring?

Yes, and more than in earlier FromSoftware games, because guard counters reward blocking with stance damage. A full-block medium shield removes most of the danger from ordinary enemies, and a greatshield with high Guard Boost turns several bosses into a rhythm of block and counter.

Which shield is best for parrying?

A small shield with the Parry skill, the Spiralhorn Shield being the one we cover in depth. Medium shields such as the Heater and Brass can parry too, with a slightly slower window.

Can a shield block magic?

Partly. Each shield has a magic guard value; the Silver Mirrorshield's 89 and the Carian Knight's Shield's 71 stop most of a sorcery's damage, while a Heater Shield's 43 lets more than half through.

What does Guard Boost do?

It reduces the stamina you lose when a blocked attack lands. Greatshields in the seventies can hold a block through a whole combo; shields in the forties break after a couple of heavy hits.

Can I put Ashes of War on a shield?

Most shields accept them, which is how you add Parry to the Brass Shield or Barricade Shield to a greatshield. A few unique shields, the Jellyfish Shield among them, keep their own skill.